The beginning or the end?
by Limberidilick
Summary: From defeating monsters to saving the world, Cloud has been the protector of Earth along side with the AVALANCHE members. There hasn't been a problem that Cloud hasn't ever faced, but what if the source of the danger this time is himself?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or anything that has to do with them.

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Morning

Soft snores were echoing out of the bedroom of Marlene and Denzil as Cloud passed. When he checked on Tifa, he heard the bed sheets rustling uncomfortably. Carefully creaking open the front door of Tifa's room, Cloud found the brown-haired woman twisting and turning in her sleep. Sweat drops were appearing on her forehead, she was having a bad dream. The blond, spiked hair man walked softly to the sleeping form and gently placed a hand on her right cheek, rubbing his thumb on her skin. It pained Cloud seeing such a strong person become so weak because of the troubles of their dreams. A smiled appeared on Tifa's lip and she slowly grasped the back of Cloud's hand gently.

"Cloud…" muttered the sleeping woman

He stood there for minutes just looking at her, not noticing the sun peeping out of the window. When the sun's rays leveled with Cloud's eyes, he gently placed Tifa's hands on her side and left the room quietly. Going down the stairs, he noticed a horde of papers with drawings drawn on them scattered on the floor. He sighed and bent down to pick them up when one of the pictures caught his eye. A small smile crept onto his lips while looking down at the picture of a stick figure with spiky, blond hair holding hands with three other stick figures, which seemed to be Marlene, Denzil and Tifa. Cloud carefully placed the papers ontop of the kitchen table while leaving, taking the picture of him and his little family.

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Noihrn: I know this is short, but i'll make the stories more longer after a few chapters. After reading this please post up your reviews. If you don't like it review it anyways. Hope you enjoyed it.

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	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or anything that has to do with them.

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Don't be late 

Footsteps echoed through out the upper hallways of the bedrooms. There were sighs coming from the hallway after the ruckus was over. Marlene looked up at Denzil with a frown.

"Cloud is gone again. Denzil I thought you were supposed to wake me up, we had an agreement." Marlene pouted up at Denzil

A mutter of apology escaped from him as he looked down in disappointment. They both went downstairs to look at the calendar seeming that is the only thing that would cheer them up. At the bottom step, Denzil noticed that all of Marlene's pictures were gone.

"Did you clean them up?" He asked her, pointing at where the drawings were

The girl shook her head in response, frowning at the disappearance of her masterpieces. By then Tifa was already changing her cloths getting ready to set up the bar for business. As the brown-haired woman was walking down the stair, she noticed the two children crowding over the kitchen table. Curious she walked towards them and peeped above their head to see what they were looking at. Marlene looked up at the woman and smiled at her.

"Cloud cleaned up my mess and took my picture of all of us holding hands together at the park! See Denzil, my drawings aren't bad, you just have no taste in good art work!" Marlene said triumphantly as she stuck her tongue at the frowning boy.

"You don't know if he took it or not, it might of have blown away or something..." Denzil said awkwardly, trying not to ruin her moment

Tifa looked down at both of them smiling, reassuring them that Cloud had taken the drawing because he liked it so much. Breaking up the moment Tifa clasped her hands on her thighs and blew out air from her mouth playfully.

"What should we have for breakfast this morning?"

The children looked at each other before answering with "CAKE". A giggle escaped from Tifa's mouth and ruffled both of their heads before heading to the kitchen. Denzil ran to the calendar nailed to the wall at the side of the bar. Picking up a red marker from the counter, Denzil crossed out the 19th of December. Looking up he saw today was Sunday and ran to Marlene excited shouting that there was five more days until Christmas. They both jumped with joy and ran towards Tifa who was cooking, trying to pass the exciting news to her. A pained expression was hidden from her face as she faced the flour in bowl.

"Cloud...If you don't come in time for Christmas Marlene and Denzil will be just be shattered..." Tifa said to herself as she looked at the excited children jumping up and down.

"I don't think they couldn't handle another shut down, even me…"

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Noihrn: It's getting longer, still putting some thought into this story. Please review, I need to know if my story needs to be better or not.  



	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the character or anything that has to do with them.

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Vision?

The sound of the motor pierced through the steady air as it rode by the outskirts of the town. The cold winds made Cloud's fingers numb as he gripped the handles of the motorcycle. Cloud looked up at the sky, finding snow clouds coming into view as they travel their way towards the city. One hour, one hour more of harsh winds blowing onto his shivering body as he rides to his last customer. He gritted his teeth as he rode his way to his destination.

"Why didn't I wear a coat?"

Business was doing fine, except that all of the customers that were calling upon his service were far away. Trying to relax, he pulls out the picture Marlene had drawn. Just looking at it made him relieved, thinking that he has people who care about him and would give him a warm welcome as he opens the front door. However, lately the business has been pouring with orders for him to finish making him work longer. Sighing at his unfortunate luck, the blonde-haired man carefully folded the masterpiece with his left hand and placed it into his pocket. When he had finally delivered the last order, he mounted on his motorcycle and rode to Midgar. There was a sharp pain in his right arm that was bothering him a lot during the trip. Lately it has been getting worse. The pain suddenly disappeared as he arrived at Seventh Heaven. The lights were off and people in front of the bar were walking past each other trying to go home. Cloud entered Seventh Heaven quietly and searched for anyone sleeping on this floor. He heard soft snores coming from the couch and he walked quietly towards the snoring couch. Cloud peeped over it to see who was sleeping it was Denzil. Marlene was sleeping sitting beside the couch. Cloud scooped up Denzil first and placed him onto the bed and he did the same approach with Marlene. He closed their door quietly and walked silently to his room. Walking into his bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror. He sighed, seeing a tired man in his early twenties who needs to sleep. Suddenly the pain in his right arm before had come back but multiplied ten folds and he dropped to the floor. His arm felt like it was going to tear off and his throat felt like someone had shoved a knife through it. Helplessly he moaned in agony and coughed up blood as his eyelids slowly shut themselves.

"Am I going to die?"

"No, not yet. You're pain is just beginning." a voice had answered

"Who are you?" Cloud questioned frightfully, but there was no answer

It was pitch black and he could not see anything, not even himself. Cloud frantically looked around, trying to find a way out of this place. He suddenly saw a flash of light, blinding his eyes. Before knowing it there was fire, everywhere and corpses were on the ground. Screams were filling the air as Cloud was adjusting to the setting. He looked down and saw blood all over his hand and his sword. Traumatized he looked up and saw a helpless figure crawling towards two children holding each other, crying. He cautiously stood up and walked towards the children, taking his sword with him. As he came closer, he saw the figure crawling was Tifa. She held the children close to her and whispered to them trying to sooth them. When Cloud was a few steps from them, they all looked up in terror and made it their best effort to run away from him. Before he knew it, he drew out his long, bloody sword at them.

"Why Cloud, why are you doing this?" Tifa screamed at him, tears running down her cut up cheeks.

He reluctantly raised his sword slowly. Cloud tried madly to stop himself, but it seemed that his efforts were no use. Just when he was about to strike, the same bright light from before shined at him, blinding his eyes. Cloud looked up and saw himself in his bathroom; splatter of his own blood on the carpet. Breathing heavily he looked at his hands and at long sword that was laid beside him as he gain conscious. Before he could examine the sword there was a laugh that startled him. The laugh was familiar and Cloud looked around frenetically, when he rose up and saw himself in the mirror and froze. His reflection on the mirror had long silvery hair and a deadly smirk…

"What's happening to me?" Cloud whispered to himself dropping down to his knees clutching his hair

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Review please

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	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or anything that has to do with them.

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**Sweet dreams **

"What are you thinking about?" a voice from behind asked

The blond haired man quickly jumped out of the chair and faced towards Tifa. He glanced down, trying to avoid her eyes. She slowly walked towards him and lifted his chin with her finger. A look of concern was in her eyes as she tried to see what was wrong.

"What's wrong? Cloud is there something bothering you?" Tifa said worriedly as she placed both of her hands on his shoulders

There was dead silence until the disturbed man finally lied with a "no". A look of disappointment replaced her expression on her face as she diverted her eyes to the side of the bar.

"I see…" Tifa said quietly as she made her way to one of the seats beside where Cloud had recently sat

She looked at her hands as she started to whirl her thumbs around in a circular motion as she held her hand when she sat down. Cloud looked at the silent woman as he tried to think of another topic for them to discuss, but later found out that he did not know any topic that was interesting. A few moments after seeing Tifa sitting down, he sat down next to her and placed his hand on top of hers. The Brunette looked up with a frown on her face and asked why he was not telling her what was bothering him. He reassured her that it was nothing worth mentioning about and said that he had no troubles that he needed to talk about.

"Are you sure? You seemed to be worried about something so I thought it was something important that you needed to talk about. But Cloud, even though it's not worth mentioning, do you think you could tell me what was bothering you earlier anyways?" Tifa questioned warmly

Cloud sighed and looked directly into her eyes and wondered whether he should actually tell her, but he knew that she could detect a lie a mile away.

"I just had a nightmare that was all. In it…. you were in pain and I am just shook up by it…. Tifa, could you promise me one thing?" Cloud said firmly

She nodded and asked what that was. Cloud then became serious and asked her if she would forgive him if he was to do something bad, something bad to her.

"Why are you asking me this Cloud? Did you do something?" Tifa questioned him suspiciously as if he already went to her drawers and did a panty raid on them.

Cloud stuttered before he let out a sigh, he knew that she wasn't taking this question seriously and answered with a "no". Tifa smiled and laid her head on Cloud's shoulder and told him that he was stupid. He looked down at her with a surprised look on his face.

"Cloud, I will always be there for you even though you may have done something that was bad. It does not matter to me, as long as I'm with you I do not care. It because I care for you..." Tifa answered as she looked up at Cloud

Before he could smile, he felt the warmth of Tifa's breath as it touched his face soothingly. His heart started to race as she slowly began to raise her face towards him. Tifa smiled and rested her forehead on his. Cloud smiled and looked onto her ruby eyes as they sparkled under the moonlight.

"We should head up, it's late." He said gently as he rose from his chair

Tifa looked up and nodded her head, hiding her face for a moment when he rose up. As they both went up the cold wooden floor, Tifa leaned her head on his shoulder until they were at her room.

"Well I guess this is my stop then. Try to have nice dreams this time Cloud. Ok? Or would you rather sleep with me for today?" she said teasingly as she opened her door

Both of them smiled and said their "goodnights" before she left Cloud standing in front of her door alone

"Sweet dreams Tifa."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story or have anything to do with them.

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"Cloud! Get your dam' white ass down here!" a voice roared from downstairs as the yellow haired man hurriedly got out of his bed

Rushing downwards towards the kitchen, he found himself in the presence of an angered man. Hiseyebrow twitched when he saw Cloud running down stairs relentlessly. Before Cloud could do anything, he found himself under the man's armpit, not being able to escape from his grasp.

"You need to get your dam' spiky ass down here by the tim' I walk in of the door. Tis' commin' courtesy, not that you would kno' of it tho'." The built man said irritably

"Well it's nice of you to drop by Barret." Cloud coughed as the man let loose his grip

Marlene came running down the stair, eager to welcome her father. With one hand, Barret scooped her up and threw here into the air playfully. Both were laughing merrily as he tossed his daughter into the air. By then Tifa stood at the side door frowning, she told Barrett to stop, thinking that he might send her into orbit if he was not too careful enough. However the frown did not last, Tifa walked across the bar and hugged Barrett.

"Nice to see ya' Tifa, how' it been?" Barret ginned

"Great, really peaceful until you came barging into the bar." Tifa said smiling

Barret laughed uneasily and scratched the back of his head. He looked down at Cloud who was still on the floor and offered his hand. Not wanting to blow the good mood Barrett was in Cloud took his hand. Both of them looked at each other and grinned. They all sat down at the small wooden table at the middle of the bar. Tifa excused her self from the table after hearing the telephone ring twice. Barret looked down at Marlene and asked her to go wake up Denzel. She jumped out of her father's lap and nodded happily. As soon as the little girl was out of site, Barret focused his attention towards Cloud.

"So what was so dam' important for me to come here so quickly?"

"Barret I have a favor to ask you, I need you to take care of the children and Tifa for me."

Scratching his forehead, Barret asked where he was going. Cloud looked at the coffee mug in front of him and sighed. He asked for Barret if he would mind going outside with him, but he rejected the idea.

"If it's that damn important, say it here." Barret said suspiciously, as he crossed his arms in front of him

"We shouldn't discuss this inside where Marlene and Denzel are here."

"Discuss what?" Tifa's voice came from behind

Cloud almost slapped himself before answering to her that it was nothing. He hated lying to her, but it had no other choice. Tifa sat down beside Barret, looking up at him to see if she could crack any information out of him. With no luck of finding anything from him, the brunette frowned and looked up at Cloud with the same suspicion the man beside her had before. With the tension rising, the deliveryman fumbled his hand into his pocket and took out his phone. Ten thirty am was the time.

"I need to leave, I'll talk about this to you later Barret." Cloud said before taking out his jacket from the closet, ready to leave

"Yea', yea'. Just don' forget to be here to say goodnight to my baby." Barret said threateningly

Before Tifa could ask him what he wanted to talk to Barret about, Cloud had already exited the front door. She bit her lip in frustration and looked towards the man across from her. Tifa looked distressed from the secrets that Cloud was hiding from her.

"It's not fair, why can't he be honest with me on something that's important to him." She said sadly to Barret

Trying to avoid having her suffer the pain of not being able to be told the truth, Barret quickly ran up the stair. The brunette looked up, taken aback from the sudden departure. Almost falling face down onto the wooden floor, Barret came running down the stairs with Denzel and Marlene in his arms, looking quiet worried. Catching everyone off guard, the man hurriedly walked up to the brunette and placed the children on her lap. Without a second to spare, Barret ran out of the front door.

"Men these days" Tifa sighed as she looked at the door

Denzil hopped out of Tifa's lap and tugged on her fingers wanting to have a word with her. Marlene looked at Denzil and did the same thing. By now, Tifa felt as if she would throw a tantrum if she were going to have to suppress her anger on Cloud.

"What is it Denzil, is there something that you want to talk about?" Tifa said as she looked down at the small child

The boy nodded and asked her if they could go to a festival that is going to be at city. Marlene even did her famous puppy pout at Tifa to make them go. Letting out a sigh of defeat the brunette rushed the children out of the door while she pulled out her key to lock it

"Guess there is no harm in having some fun today." Tifa said to herself as she walked down the sidewalk with Marlene and Denzel

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BIGMACjr.- sorry guys if i haven't posted up stories in such a long period of time. Please review if you like or didn't like it. 


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the character or have anything to do with them.

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Bright lights were glimmered far off the city, dancing around quickly as time passed by. People would pass by with fake jewelry and cheap stuffed bears in their grasping hands, having it been won in a game that might have taken them hours or so to win. Yells of delight would often be heard from afar in the endless crowds of people overflowing the area. At front, Denzel was searching excitedly through the amusement park to find an easy game for them to win. A tug was felt on her skirt as Tifa looked far off a bar stand, swearing that she saw Cloud's hair towering over the mass crowd. Tifa looked down at the jumpy girl with a smile and followed her to an ice cream stand a few buildings off.

"She almost saw me.," the yellow haired man muttered to himself as he grasped the mug

He saw from a distant that the three of them were running off to play some games or some sort. Feeling the booze kick into his system, Cloud shoved his hand into a pocket and placed ten dollars onto the counter. A bit dizzy from the ten shots, he walked slowly up to a bench that was available on the side of a hot dog stand. He looked into the crowd again, hoping to find Tifa and the children wondering off.

"If Tifa finds out that I'm not at work and instead drinking, she would kill me. Especially not drinking at **her** bar would piss her off."

He took out his phone and focused hard on the numbers in front of the cell phone trying to make out what time it was.

"Eight-thirty or is that an eighty."

Pausing after to run what he just said in his head again he signed. He was losing it, this many drinks could knock out a person out. A second passed and his phone started to ring, it was Tifa. Picking up the phone, he said hello.

"Are you almost done with your deliveries?" Tifa questioned him

"Yeah, I finished early today. Why?" Cloud lied

There was a pause and she answered, "The children and I were wondering if you could come to a festival in the city, if you are not busy."

"That sounds nice; I'll be there in thirty minutes."

In addition, with that he said good-bye to the brunette and hung up the phone. Trying to get a steady grip on himself, he stood up. Cloud wobbled side to side as he walked towards a game stand. Taking out five dollars, he gave it to the woman behind the counter, eyeing him weirdly as if he were to throw up everywhere. She cautiously handed Cloud 15 darts and told what he had to do.

"If you want to win the grand prize," she said pointing at the huge teddy bear hanging loosely on top of the game sign, "you have to pop all the balloons over there." Pointing her stiff finger at the balloons ten feet away from Cloud

He nodded and stood up straight from his slouching position and focused on the little balloons as they danced side to side, tormenting him to miss them. One at a time, the inflated rubber balls popped as Cloud threw the dull pointed dart at them. In exactly eleven seconds, all the balloons were gone and the counter woman looked at him with amazement. He lazily looked up at her and waited for her to give him his prize. She bent down for a stool underneath the counter and went for the huge teddy bear as she got on it. With a dumbfounded look on her face, she handed the stuffed animal to the impatient man, not believing what she saw. Cloud walked off, trying to find another game for him to win.

"Might as well try to get a lot of prizes, just incase the kids aren't able to get any."

Balancing himself up right, Cloud walked into the waves of people shoving their way to get to their destination.

Looking side to side for a descent concession stand, the brunette walked around the streets eagerly. Denzel followed behind with plastic sunglasses on, struggling to push through the endless people passing him while Marlene was eating an ice cream cone, glaring at everyone who knocked against her making her afraid her cone might fall on the floor. Tifa heard her phone ring over the rustling crowd. She fumbled her hands into her left pocket and took out her slim phone. She looked at the name flashing on her screen and saw it was Cloud.

"I'll be there in a minute Tif."

"Where are you?" she asked, looking around to see if he was in site

"I'm at the hot dog stand, where the Billy the Dog is knocked out."

"Oh… Well we will be looking for you then."

After hanging up the phone, she bit her thumb. Not that long ago she walked pass the hot dog stand. The man in the dog suit tried to ask her out and things turned out to be rough from then on. He did not take the turn down very well and was getting a little bit rough with her. It ended with Tifa knocking the out of Billy the Dog. Tifa huddled the two children towards an empty bench, they were practically out of the festival by then. Denzel and Marlene looked eagerly for the yellow haired man to walk up to them somewhere. A few minutes passed and they all saw him, a big plastic bag was also with him.

"Hey" Cloud smiled as they all ran towards him

The children immediately asked questions about the mysterious bag behind him. Setting it onto the ground, Cloud told them to look inside it. Denzel and Marlene shook their head and said that they would rather look what are inside of it when they were at home, making the surprise even bigger.

"So what do you guys want to do?" Cloud said warmly towards the children and Tifa

Tifa's eyes darted at Cloud's as she walked up to him.

"Cloud, why do you smell like alcohol?" the brunette said dangerously, narrowing her eyes at him

Without an expression on his face, Cloud stared at Tifa for what seemed like an hour.

"Damn" he thought to himself

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Please review if you like. Anything with be fine. 


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own any of the character.

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**Cold night**

Breathing hard, Cloud was clutching his cold arms, blood seeping out of his figures. As he opened his eyes, he couldn't make out anything around him, as if he were partially blind. His whole body was numb as he laid on his bed, waiting for the time to pass by. He couldn't feel his fingers digging into his flesh. Looking up at the clock he saw that it was late enough for him to go downstairs. Cloud crept silently down the steps impatiently, listening intently to any noise that would echo through the hallway. Reaching the kitchen successfully he raided the cabinets, looking for any sighs of coffee beans to grind. After about fifteen minutes or so he crept back upstairs with his warm cup of coffee. The warmth of the coffee would only last but a second in his system, being engulfed by the coldness of his body. Gritting his teeth he reached for the handle of his bedroom before hearing one of the doors open behind him.

"Is that you Cloud?" a voice said feebly behind him

"Yes it's me Tifa, sorry that I woke you up." Cloud said apologetically to her as he turned around

She shook her head and said that he didn't wake her up. Cloud looked at her carefully, noticing that her eyes were puffy.

"Was she crying?" Cloud thought to himself as he saw Tifa walk out of her room slowly

The brunette's hair was matted to one side of her head making her look some what odd. There were bags under eyes, showing that she was stressed and needed some sleep. Tifa, knowing that there was a worried expression on pale man's face, she quickly asked why was he up so late.

"I just wanted to get some coffee, it's really cold upstairs."

"Could I join you?" she yawned as she rubbed her pink eyes

Cloud nodded and headed downstairs with Tifa who seemed quiet sad. As they waited for the coffee to brew they both sat silently, opposite sided from each other. The brunette looked like she was in deep in thought as she looked at Cloud's lonely cup across from her. The silence went on until the coffee was done. Tifa looked up and walked steadily towards the counter and pored herself a cup of coffee. Both the blonde and the brunette looked stressed as they focused their attention to each other. It was Tifa who broke the uncomfortable silence between them.

"Cloud, do you still have nightmares of the past? Of Sepherath and all the people that died?" she said sadly

He nodded slowly and looked up at Tifa, who saw tears appearing on the side of her eyes. She didn't bother to wipe them away instead she smiled weakly and let out a cough which would have been a small laugh.

"I'm sorry, didn't mean to bring back bad memories. It's just that I need to talk to someone about it, it's bothering me." Tifa said quietly, getting a little bit serious

But before Cloud could ask her what was wrong, she said, "Do you still think that it's your fault that Aries died?"

Taken aback from the question Cloud looked into the brunette's eyes and said that even if he did, he was forgiven. Tifa nodded slightly and rose from her chair, grasping the cup as she got up.

"I'm going to head up." She said silently, tilting her head towards the stairs

"I'll go up with you then." Cloud said

The blonde stood up from his chair and walked beside Tifa up the stairs, shoulders brushing against each other at each step. When they reached the top of the stairs Tifa looked at her bedroom door and back at Cloud's exhausted face. She pondered for a moment and walked to her bedroom without a sound, later coming out with a pillow in her arms.

"Cloud, do you mind if I sleep in your room tonight?" she said meekly, looking down, hiding her face

"If you want to, but it's really cold." He warned

"I don't mind." She said, smiling weakly

Cloud reached for the handle and lead Tifa inside. She looked around the room, examining the things that Cloud had. As she examined her gaze fell upon the picture Marlene had drawn two days ago and smiled. Tifa walked towards the messy bed and sat down awkwardly on it, looking uncomfortable. She looked up at Cloud and tapped her hand on the bed softly, smiling. They both made themselves comfortable in bed and had their bodies facing up towards the ceiling.

"Good night." Tifa yawned

"You too" Cloud said back to her

Thirty minutes

Shivering from the lack of warmth, Cloud reluctantly laid awake on his small bed. Trying to fall asleep he shut his eyes forcefully and thought of something to dream of. However, something else was bothering him, he felt Tifa shift uncomfortably around her side of the bed. He opened his eyes and looked at Tifa, who was tossing around. Looking closer at the woman's face, he saw trickles of tears racing down her smooth cheeks, she was crying. He wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her into him, as if protecting her from what ever she was dreaming. Tifa's body became less tense and she snuggled her head onto his arms. The warmth of her body flowed into his, curing his uncontrollable chills engulfing his body.

"Please don't leave me." She pleaded to Cloud as she slept in his arms

"I won't" he said to her reassuringly. "I won't"

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The smooth, cold blade felt good running across his tongue. He cut a small, but deep line in it, filling his mouth with warm blood. The taste of blood made him smile vigorously, it was as if drinking the finest champagne a person could ever imagine. His movement was stiff; the completion was only a quarter ways done, but no matter this would do. Walking towards a secluded house surrounded with flowers, he looked and saw a small statue standing at the front of the house. 

"This is in the memory of the dearest person who sacrificed her life for the planet, Aries." The man said it mockingly

"Her death will be in vain, earth will suffer in do time."

Taking out his sword he slashed the statue in half, making the upper half fall helplessly onto the ground. He smiled in satisfactory and walked into the house soundlessly.

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Sorry guys for not updating. I'll try to fit in another chapter later. Thanks for reading 


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own any of the characters.

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Church

Cloud felt a little tug on his shirt; waiting for attention. He turned around and saw Tifa smiling playfully at him.

"Had a good night sleep?" she asked childishly, sliding her body a little bit closer to him

Feeling the urge to drink coffee, Cloud got off the bed and nodded at her. As he walked towards the door, he saw Tifa stretching all over the bed. She got up and looked at him with confused look on her face.

"Well are you going to stay there or go?" she yawned, smiling afterwards to not make him feel brainless

Cloud mumbled a sorry and opened the door, with Tifa right behind. It was surprising to Cloud that he wasn't uncomfortable with Tifa sleeping with him. In a way, it felt somewhat soothing to him, not like she would sleep in his room again or anything. It was always nice to have family around as you slept it makes you feel safe.

As Cloud and Tifa walked down the stairs, they noticed the children crowding at the window. They looked excited, excited enough not to notice the adults walking towards them from behind. Tifa was the one to ask what was going on.

"It's snowing!" Denzil and Marlene chanted together in harmony, Marlene dancing around the two adults

Cloud peeped over the two excited children and saw small snowflakes falling onto the ground. He wondered why the snow did not arrive earlier, he saw the snow clouds heading towards their way a day or so ago. Tifa shooed the children away towards the kitchen table and told them to get breakfast ready with her. Their spirits went away with them as Denzil and Marlene disappeared into the kitchen. The brunette stood beside the blonde and asked him whether or not he was going to work today.

"I'm going to take a day off and visit Zack and Aries. Want to come?" Cloud asked

"I would love to, but it's been such a long time since you spent some quality time with them. I think it would be best that you went alone today."

"Alright, alright, I'll go alone." Cloud sighed, walking towards the coat racket

He wore his black, leather coat and opened the door.

"Don't forget to say good bye to the kids." Tifa said caringly

Cloud shouted three farewells to Denzil, Marlene and to Tifa before closing the door.

Warmth surrounded the building as Cloud walked inside. The image of the sun was reflecting on the little pool at the far end of the church. Tired from the walk he laid beside the pool and looked at the flowers at the bottom, waving side to side at him as if they were saying hello. The pain in his left arm suddenly came back and he grasped it, massaging it. Right after he whirled his finger around in a circle at the surface of the pool. A cold sensation flew up his finger and up his arm, his whole arm glowed bright green.

"Figures" he muttered

Cloud clutched his hands and opened them, trying to see if the pain had really gone away. Few seconds later, he found himself thinking of Aries and Zack. He had not seen them almost for one-year right after the geostigma accident. It felt almost awkward mentioning about them because he still felt that it was his fault for their deaths. However, he was forgiven despite the circumstances. Cloud had to admit that he still felt responsible for their deaths, but hearing Aries forgive him made him feel somewhat better. Although that might be out of the way, something else was bothering him. He looked up, waiting for a voice to guide him, but there was none. Slowly he began to get frustrated, tired on the fact that even though he killed Sephoroith more then once he keeps on coming back.

"The suffering won't stop till I erase you from the face of this planet right? Why are you still in my memories? Why, how come you can not just stay dead?"

Cloud found himself banging on the floor, trying to let out all the anger. Red spots of light rose from him body as he let out his pain. Cloud looked up and saw green balls of light rising up from the water also. The red and the green lights collided with each other, as if they were fighting for dominance. Within moments, the red spots engulfed the green ones. Cloud stared for a second until he heard a scream.

"Cloud, help me!" Aries' voice screamed through out the chapel

"Aries!" Cloud yelled back, frantically looking around the solemn church

A laugh answered back, sending Cloud into shock. Pushing aside chairs and tables, Cloud searched madly where Aries' cry had come from. Sephoroith's laughter filled the entire building as the helpless man searched every corner. A loud bang then suddenly echoed through out the chapel, stopping the laughter. Hurried footsteps came afterwards as Cloud covered his ears intensely, trying to get Aries screams out of his head. A hand gripped his shoulder nervously, turning him around.

"Cloud, is that you?" a girl asked dumbfounded

Yuffie looked carefully at his face to make sure it was him. She then sighed and sat down with him.

"So what was with all that yelling and laughing?" Yuffie asked him worriedly

Cloud stood up and walked away without saying anything. He stopped at the entrance of the church, clutching his hand tensely.

"It was Sephoroith"

However, before Yuffie could ask him what he said Cloud was out of sight.

* * *

Sorry guys for the wait. Ay-Bay-Bay!!! 


	9. Chapter 9

The snow was piling quickly as it floated down gently. There was frost forming under the roof of the bar and of cars passing by. It seemed like hours lying next to the window just staring at the snow. Cloud sat motionlessly as the children crept silently behind him. With worried expressions on their faces they walked silently towards the kitchen. Before Denzil could say a word, they heard the door open and shut.

"What's wrong with Cloud, he doesn't seem like himself since last night." Marlene said worriedly

Denzil shook his head and walked up the stair to Tifa's room, Marlene followed in curiosity. As he cracked the door slightly, Marlene leaned against him and they both fell. Tifa stood up quickly and lifted her hands up as if she were about to be struck. She scanned the room and found the two children glaring at each other.

"What are you guys doing?" Tifa asked suspiciously as she got off the bed

Marlene was the one to respond, "Nothing, nothing at all", she responded as she rubbed her head. The brunette took them out of her bedroom and walked downstairs with them.

"Tifa what's wrong with Cloud?" Marlene asked anxiously

"I don't know, what makes you say so?"

Denzil glared at Marlene and said that it was nothing. Marlene looked down and said nothing until they were at the bar. Tifa examined the both of them and reassured them that it was really nothing to worry about, saying that he must have been tired. Marlene still didn't respond as of neither did Denzil. They both sat on the stools and said nothing.

"Why is this a depressing day? Ever since Cloud came back from the church, there has been a bad vibe." She thought to herself as she raided the refrigerator for ingredients.

She looked back at the children who were drawing on the counter with their fingers. They both looked like they were in deep thought. Tifa thought of baking a cake for them to cheer them up, but as she was about to raid the refrigerator once more there was a knock on the door. The children jumped out of their seat quickly with excitement and ran towards the door, Tifa behind. Before they opened the door, the visitor shouted, "Freezing my ass off!"

"Yuffie" Tifa sighed in relief

The children opened the door anxiously and jumped at the girl. Yuffie shooed them off into the building and sighed in relief. She shook her head, trying to get the snow off of her black hair. Tifa frowned and asked her to quickly go into the kitchen so that she would prepare her a hot drink.

"Coffee" she singed cheerfully as she walked into the next room.

The children followed her off into the kitchen, leaving Tifa alone. She mopped up the water that surrounding Yuffie's boots. As she was cleaning up after Yuffie, she noticed that there was something on Cloud's spare boots. Examining it closely she began to panic, it was blood. As her mind was racing, she thought about how Cloud was acting recently and thought of the blood to be Cloud's.

"Is he hurt?" she thought frightfully

Before Tifa could think of any other possibilities, Yuffie called on her. She quickly snapped out of her state and mopped the melting snow quickly. Tifa walk briskly towards the kitchen. When she entered she saw the two children trying to reach for the coffee bean in the upper cabinet with young ninja pouring water into an empty little pot. The brunette quickly walked towards the children struggling with the beans and placed them down on the floor.

"Tifa, where's Cloud?" Yuffie curiously asked as she lit the stove

"I don't know, he was here about an hour ago. Why do you ask?"

Yuffie shrugged and told Tifa that she met up with him at the church. She then rambled on about how rude he was towards her, saying that he left without saying good-bye to her and mumbling something afterwards. The brunette's head quickly turned towards the young ninja.

"Was he bleeding?" Tifa asked anxiously

"No" Yuffie answered, looking at Tifa weirdly

The brunette shook her head and apologized. When Yuffie opened her mouth to speak, Tifa announced that she was heading upstairs. Within seconds she was out of site. The children looked at each other worriedly and ran towards the stairs to see Tifa walk up. When they heard the door close quietly, Yuffie guided them towards the bar. The children took a seat and watched the window, hoping that Cloud would come.

"Tifa really needs a boyfriend, someone that takes care of her." Yuffie sighed

"She has Cloud!" the children both snapped

"Well I'm sorry for saying anything!" The ninja retorted, sticking her tongue at both of them

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door. As Yuffie walked slowly towards the front door, the knocking turned to banging.

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming!" she shouted annoyingly

Once opening the door, her eyebrow twitched up.

"Where the hell is that Cloud dude?" Reno questioned exasperatingly

"Hey where's that other guy?" she asked curiously

"He's on vacation stupid." Reno said, annoyed

The stairs thumped quickly as Tifa darted down the stairs. She dashed towards the door and saw that it was Reno.

"What's up beautiful? Where's that man of yours?" Reno said in a seducing voice

"What do you want?" Tifa said straightforwardly, trying to get to the point

"Well I'm here to have a little chat with Cloudy." He said coolly as he looked at his nails

"Why?" the brunette asked nervously

"Because a little birdie told me that Cloudy was trying to sneak into one of our buildings and steal something special."

"What? Are you sure, Cloud wouldn't do something like that."

"Well I would like to believe that babe, but the guy told us himself that it was him."

"Is he sure that it was really Cloud? Can't I speak with him?"

"The problem is, is that he's dead and along with twenty others. You could thank Cloud for that."


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry guys I haven't posted up any of the chapters in such a long time. Wished that this didn't take me such a long time to post, and I hope that you guys will forgive me! T.T Anyways I hope that you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Ten: The coming of the worst

The pedestrians walking carelessly on the sidewalks of Midgar seem like little specs as Cloud sped his motorcycle into the city. He couldn't help but feel that he had to leave Tifa and the children behind immediately, there was something wrong with him and he knew that it was dangerous. Cloud gripped the handlebars tightly, cringing at the sharp pain that rose up through his arms. His body was acting up again.

'What's going on?' He muttered angrily to himself, spitting a blotch of blood into the colorless snow

His whole body was screaming in agony. He felt as if he would fall from the intensity of the pain. However, Cloud shoved his left hand into his pocket trying to find a cure materia. It seemed that even a cure materia wouldn't erase the pain; it only eased it for a couple of minutes before coming back. Gritting his teeth he rode his bike into the depths of the forest. The freezing winds were blinding him, watering Cloud's eyes from the cold winds slamming against his darkened eyes. His phone vibrated in his pocket, frightening him for a brief second. Searching through his back pocket, he took out his sleek phone. Tifa's name ran across the monitor slowly. Cloud irritably threw the phone into snow and fumbled into his jacket for a pair of goggles.

'Where the hell is it?' Cloud thought to himself eagerly

The glowing skin of the trees gleamed, guiding him through the endless forest. Cloud couldn't help but feel a bit of shame; he should have picked up his phone. Stupid enough he casted it into the snow, a 100 dollar cell phone. Anyways Tifa might have something urgent to tell Cloud, she always did when she used her cell phone to call him. Doubt was rampaging through his mind until he saw a gleaming pound towards his left. He suddenly halted his vehicle and parked it against a tree. Cloud curiously walked passed through the masses of trees, wondering if anyone was there. Silently maneuvering across the forest, he had a brief glimpse of a girl squatting at the banks of the pond. Her fair hair flew into the air beautifully as she dipped her pale hands into the pond. Cloud watched in amazement, holding his breath. Her hair flung sideways as she suddenly faced towards his direction.

'Aerith?' He mouthed soundlessly in astonishment

The woman smiled meekly before disappearing slowly, as if evaporating into the air, into nature. He stood his ground, staring at the spot where Aerith was, dumbfounded. Many questions soared through his head as he walked slowly towards the bank of the pond. He squatted down on the snow, bending forward so that he could see his reflection in the pond. Aerith face appeared slowly as his reflection, smiling gracefully at him.

'It's been long' her voice echoed throughout the forest

'What are you doing here?' Cloud questioned, noticing the crack in his voice

The reflection smiled and put her finger on her chin, playfully acting as if she were thinking. Instead of an answer Aerith motioned Cloud to follow her. Without another second her reflection disappeared, leaving Cloud staring blankly at his own reflection. He panicked, not knowing what to do next.

'Follow her, where? She just disappeared into the water.' Cloud questioned quickly to himself as he looked around to see if Aerith was nearby

'Go into the water, dummy.' A voice echoed teasingly towards him

Cloud settled himself down and breathed in slowly. He walked cautiously into the water and took in a deep breath before plunging his head underneath. Aerith figure glided towards him with ease and motioned him once more to follow. He swam forcefully towards her and found himself not moving. Aerith looked back and giggled lightly.

'Don't put too much stress on yourself, you can breathe underneath here. Just float down and walk.'

Cloud hid away his embarrassment and floated down to the bottom. Easy enough he was able to walk without any trouble. He breathed in and found himself surrounded by small schools of fish, beautiful fishes that shined as the moon's light bounced off their flawless scales. Awestruck by the scenery he followed the floating figure. This was amazing even for his standards, how he was able to do this he did not know. He noticed that his pains in his arms were gone and he seemed to be, happy.

'Cloud, why did you wish to come here to the pond?' Aerith questioned him

'To find answers.' Cloud said meekly

'From who?'

'Vincent' Cloud said hesitantly

Aerith head nodded up and down, showing that she understood. Cloud didn't even know why he wanted to see Vincent in this place, but he always seemed to know everything before Cloud did. Vincent even mentioned that the problem wasn't over at the church a year ago. When everyone was splashing in the water Vincent called forth Cloud to privacy. Vincent warned him that something else is coming something even worse, and for Cloud to meet him at the pond where they had rescued Marlene when he saw anything suspicious. Questions filled Cloud's mind, 'What was going to come, why meet him at the pond'. However before he could question Vincent, Tifa called for Cloud to join them into the celebration.

'Yes it does seem that Vincent would know some answers.' Aerith said teasingly, using a wise, deep voice to match Vincent's

Cloud smiled, it's been such a long time since he had actually talked to Aerith. It was either her beating some sense into him or just appear at the celebration for a moment. However he knew that there was some meaning for his encounter with Aerith, she knew that he was coming here. Something important lay in this pond and Aerith was showing him the way to it.

Aries stopped suddenly and faced Cloud with a serious expression on her face. It's time.

'Cloud I know why you wanted to meet Vincent and that you saw Sephiroth.' Aries said quietly to him

'If you know, then what do I have to do to get him out of my head? It's making me insane.'

Aries suddenly laid her hand on his shoulder, she looked worried.

'Cloud it's only something that you can do, and you alone. You're the only one that is able to stop him. You must stop him before-' however before she could finish her sentence Aerith's voice suddenly muted

Suddenly Sephiroth's figure appeared before him with his sword sheathed. Before Cloud could respond or defend himself, the armed man lunged towards him.

'You're mine.' Sephiroth's voice rung in his ears before Cloud blacked out

* * *

'He's not picking up his phone.' The brunette said silently as she ran her fingers through her thick hair in frustration

Yuffie sat beside her and tried to comfort her, reassuring that he might of have been busy and that Cloud could not be able to pick up her call. At this time the children were put to bed despite their refusals to wait for Cloud to arrive home. Tifa didn't know what to do; did Cloud really try to steal Jenova? This was all too much for her; however she had to do something. She felt weak knowing that something wrong is happening. Cloud was in some kind of trouble and she had to get him out of it. Tifa and Yuffie both decided to investigate the break in themselves. Both of them rose from the couch and walked towards the closet. The brunette searched through the recently ironed jackets and pulled out a long, black leathered jacket and shoved her arms into the sleeves.

'What about the children, Yuffie? We can't just leave them here alone.' Tifa said worriedly as she looked upstairs, thinking of the two sleeping children in their rooms

'I called Barret not that long ago, so it's ok Tifa. Don't worry too much; we need to get Cloud out of this mess right now.'

'Are you sure he's coming, he seemed to be a bit busy in the past few days.'

'Yeah, but he said that he had something urgent to talk about to you or Cloud when he gets here.'

Tifa bit her lip in frustration and walk out of the building with the teenaged ninja. It was a pain for both of them, to go to Rufus' mansion at the middle of the night in the freezing cold. Reno had told them that it would take them about thirty or forty minutes to get to the gates of the mansion, there they will be searched and escorted to Rufus himself. Tifa is fumbling with the materia in her left pocket when they are about half way to their destination. She still didn't fully trust Rufus and his men, they had won some respect from her from the incident a year before, however that didn't mend all of the sins that they put the world through in the past. Yuffie also brought some of the materia that was stored in Tifa's house. They were not powerful, but they were good enough for them to escape if they were to be ambushed. When they arrived at the gates of the mansion, as expected the men searched them. They tried to confiscate the materia they found in both of the women's clothes, however Rufus called in and dismissed them. As the two men escorting both Tifa and Yuffie towards Rufus, Tifa noticed that the man on her left was limping slightly. However before she could ask why he was limping, Yuffie's gasp of astonishment attained her attention. Tifa's eyes widened, surprised. Half of the upper floor was in ruins. Every room, or what was left of it stood a guard, heavily armed. The door was sliced into pieces and the monuments at the front yard were all covered in blood.

'Could Cloud have done this?' Tifa questioned herself

At the front door where the ruins continued, stood Rufus. Rufus seemed to be untouched from the incident.

'You were not killed or even hurt?' Yuffie couldn't help but ask

'No, but two thirds of my men were.' Rufus answered

* * *

'He was supposed to be here a few minutes ago or that's what I felt.' A cloaked man said to himself

Vincent looked at his sides and walked around the pond to see if there were any footprints. After taking a full circle around the pond he found none, however he noticed a gleaming shine of metal leaning on a tree. He walked smoothly towards it and examined it. A good coat of snow covered the motorcycle.

'So he has been here.' Vincent sighed to himself, so he was late not Cloud

Vincent tried to trace where Cloud might have gone off too. Concluding that if he went off foot, his destination must have not been very far. He might have gone to the pool and waited and left, but why leave his bike here? Curiously thinking to himself, Vincent walked towards the pool. Squatting at the banks of the pond he looked into it. Little snow patches were floating all over the ponds. He waited until one floated towards him to examine it. However as he picked it up he dropped it into the pond, revealing that it was a dead fish. The fish had a deep cut into it, probably killing it instantly. His phone rang in his cloak. Vincent looked at the name that blinked relentlessly on his screen, it was Barret.

'What is it? I'm busy.' Vincent answered

'Yo, is Spiky-boy wit you?' Barret said urgently

'No' Vincent said flatly

Barret started to curse to himself and there was an awkward silence between them. Vincent could hear at the background that there is a great fuss over something. People were screaming and some were crying. At this time Barret's restless breaths were echoing through the phone as if he were running.

'Why?' Vincent asked with a little curiosity for the reason why Barret is calling him

The silence continued, even Barret's heavy breathing stopped.

'Aerith's mom is dead.'


End file.
